To further expand the customer base of Windows Phone 7, software giant Microsoft Corp. on Tuesday previewed the next major release of Windows Phone 7, code-named “Mango.” According to Microsoft, Mango will deliver more than 500 new features to push the boundaries of the smartphone experience around communications, apps and the Internet.

Microsoft said that “Mangos” release will be available for free to Windows Phone 7 customers and is scheduled to ship on new phones beginning this fall. More details on device update timing will be provided closer to availability.

Furthermore, the software giant said that Windows Phone will also add support for additional languages, expand access to apps by launching Windows Phone Marketplace in new countries, and partner with new OEMs to enable expansion to new markets.

In a statement, Andy Lees, president of the Mobile Communications Business at Microsoft said, “Seven months ago we started our mission to make smartphones smarter and easier for people to do more.”

“With ‘Mango,’ Windows Phone takes a major step forward in redefining how people communicate and use apps and the Internet, giving you better results with less effort,” noted Lees.

The smartphone experience can be complicated by a sea of disconnected apps and accounts as people attempt to keep pace with all the ways they communicate — from calls, texts, email and instant messages (IM) to status updates, Tweets, check-ins, photo posting and tagging. To help people stay on top of that growing complexity, the “Mango” release organizes information around the person or group people want to interact with, not the app they have to use.

In addition to making it easy to get timely notifications and updates from apps right from the start screen, the “Mango” release also will surface apps as part of search results and within Windows Phone Hubs. As a result, a useful app is more likely to be right there when needed, stated Microsoft.

Furthermore, aside from including Internet Explorer, the “Mango” release will connect the power of the Web to the unique capabilities of Windows Phones, such as location awareness, camera and access to apps, to present a way of viewing the Web that is more localized, actionable and relevant, the company said.

“Mango” will further expand and strengthen the Windows Phone ecosystem through new partnerships with Acer Inc., Fujitsu Ltd. and ZTE Corp., which on Tuesday announced plans to deliver new Windows Phone devices in markets around the world.

Furthermore, Microsoft announced it will support additional languages, including Brazilian Portuguese, Simplified and Traditional Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, and Swedish, and will greatly expand the list of countries where consumers have access to apps via Windows Phone Marketplace.

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